Everyone knows almost everything about football or basketball betting. However, the truth is that online sportsbooks offer so many more sports to bet on, including ice hockey. While it’s primarily popular in North America, hockey betting is one of the most exciting ways to bet on sports online. It does take a bit of research as it’s different from football or basketball, but considering the potential returns, it pays off to do some work.
You can read many NHL tips when you’re ready to bet on this sport. However, before you begin, look at the trendiest NHL bets and learn what they offer.
Different Types of NHL Betting
There are many ways you can bet on NHL games nowadays. Those don’t just include match-winner bets, which are the bread-and-butter of every sports betting experience. Numerous other bet types allow you to bet on goals, team, or player props, offering great rewards.
Three types of NHL bets are the trendiest among players – moneyline, spread betting, and over/under. Everything begins with these three markets, which spread out in different directions.
Moneyline NHL Betting
Moneyline is the basic bet for most sports, including the NHL. It’s the simplest way to bet on the National Hockey League, and with it, you’re picking the winner of a match. It only applies on a home or away win and doesn’t include ties, overtime, or shootouts. With two outcomes to pick from, your money goes to either team A or team B.
To put things into perspective, when the Edmonton Oilers play the Dallas Cowboys, you can choose either side to win the match. If your pick defeats the opponent, your bet wins. If it loses, your bet loses as well.
Moneyline odds are longer for the underdog and shorter for the favorite. There’s money to be made on the underdog, but you must remember that the risk of an underdog win is also higher.
Spread NHL Betting
Spread betting on the NHL is also known as puck line. It’s similar to other point-spread bets, where the favorite is usually given a -1.5 puck line while the underdog gets a +1.5 puck line. If you side with the favorite, you’re betting they beat the underdog by two goals or more. Should you choose the underdog, they must win or lose by 1 goal for your bet to win.
Puck lines change depending on the teams in play. Sometimes, it can move by 0.5 points up or down, depending on the difference in quality between the two teams. The .5-point spread is added to eliminate the possibility of a tie or a push. One side always covers the spread, while the other one loses.
Over/Under NHL Betting
The over/under market falls under the total goals category. It’s a bet where you place a wager on the total number of goals scored in the match. By goals, we mean the goals tally scored by both teams in an NHL match. The line is usually set at 3.5 goals; you can bet over or under it.
The line may be higher depending on the teams in play and their current forms. For example, it’s commonly set at 4.5 goals but can go as high as over or under 8.5 goals. By betting on a goal line of over 4.5, five or more goals should be scored in total for your bet to win. It’s the same with the under 4.5 goals market – in this case, the total must be under four goals.
This bet is a great way to make a profit if you don’t like the money line or the spreads. If you notice a high-scoring game on the cards, the O/U market is a far better pick than any other bet.
Futures Betting
The futures betting market refers to a future NHL outcome, like, for example, choosing the team you believe has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Futures may also refer to division and conference winners. There are even player futures, such as the Hart Memorial Trophy winner, given to the most valuable player in the league.
This market is live way before the NHL season begins. It’s open until the last day of the season or regular season for specific markets. The odds are longer initially and start to shorten as the season or playoffs end.
Live NHL Betting
Like in any other sport, live betting on the NHL is a rewarding way for seasoned NHL bettors to profit. NHL games are usually fast-paced, and there’s a great possibility that a goal or a penalty is scored at any minute. Because of that, NHL games are suitable for live bets. For the unaware, live betting allows you to place bets on in-play matches. The odds and lines are updated by the second, depending on what’s happening on the ice.
You can place live bets on the most exciting NHL matches right up to the end of the game. There might not be as many markets as with pre-game betting, but the odds are generous, and live betting is more exciting overall. With money lines, spreads, totals, and team and prop bets on offer, you should check it out if you want a different experience than pre-match betting.
NHL Player Props
Player props allow you to bet on specific occurrences or non-occurrences in an NHL match. It can be any player from any NHL team, the Atlantic Division, or others. Like any other sport, points and goals shape a player’s performance. You can bet on how many goals a specific player scores in a match, how many assists he has, or even bet on goalkeeper saves.
This type of bet is quite trendy among NHL bettors, and the great news is that plenty of tips are available online as well. If you’re unsure about a player’s performance, you can check out what experts think and place a bet that will hopefully win without worrying about the match result.
